Achievement Strategies during University Studies Predict Early Career Burnout and Engagement

Salmela-Aro, Katariina; Tolvanen, Asko; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

Journal of Vocational Behavior, v75 n2 p162-172 Oct 2009

To examine whether individuals' achievement strategies measured during university studies would have an impact on work burnout and work engagement measured 10, 14 and 17 years later, 292 university students completed the SAQ strategy questionnaire three times while at university, and the work burnout inventory three times and work engagement inventory twice during their early career. The results showed that optimism increased during university, while task-avoidance did not change. Moreover, high and increasing optimism during university predicted a high level of work engagement and low level of burnout 10, 14 and 17 years later. By contrast, a high level of task-avoidance during university predicted a low level of work engagement and high level of burnout during the early career. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)